To Create a Peaceful World, Each Person must be in a Peaceful Condition

My last post was about  Oki-sensei’s description of what the natural body, natural mind-heart and natural lifestyle are for human beings and that yoga is a system of ‘philosophy and practical methods’ that teaches this to us.

In this post, I summarised two lectures from an English booklet ‘Last Lectures by Masahiro Oki’. The lectures are one given in Finland on 28 June 1985 (pages 5-10) and another given in Belgium on 15 July 1985 (pages 33-37). Oki-sensei draws our attention from lofty ideals (as per the last post) to very practical indications which we can apply in our daily life.  He says the following:

Attendees of the lectures suggested many subjects such as love, religion, peace, health, and yoga. He decided to speak how to create peace, because in ‘peace’ all aspects of human beings are included. After the Second World War, he decided to become a peacemaker and joined many so-called peacemakers’ groups. However, he found that there were many paper- or mouth-peacemakers but they were not necessarily peaceful themselves. Then he realised that, if we want to create a peaceful world, each person must be in a peaceful condition, where we need three elements: peaceful body, peaceful mind-heart and peaceful life-style. He concretely indicates as follows:

How to create Peaceful Body

  • Keep your muscles flexible.
  • Keep your spine stretched.
  • Keep your breath deep.
  • Keep your blood clean.

Yoga Asana and Pranayama teach these.

How to create Peaceful Mind-heart

Obtain a balanced state in emotions, desires and intellect.

  • Emotions and desires come spontaneously, not by thinking. When some thought or feeling comes, don’t deny it. But, think ‘what is the opposite thought or feeling to this one?’  If you think well, you will find there are so many ways of interpretations. Then bring in the opposite thought or feeling to the one which originally occurred to you. Through this practice, your mind will come to feel alright whether this way or that way.   Unbalanced thoughts or feelings come because your ability of adaptation is weak.
  • To keep your intellect peaceful, you must distinguish what you understand from what you don’t understand.

How to create Peaceful Lifestyle

Peaceful Lifestyle means the lifestyle where we help each other and develop together. This is love. There are two causes for human quarrels: egocentrism and attachment. How to practise this kind of lifestyle is as follows:

  • You do not need to deny about possessing things, but utilise them as public things, or for both yourself and others.
  • Whatever you do, keep its benefits for yourself and others at 50% each. Keep your own joy and other’s joy at 50% each.

Oki-sensei showed us both lofty ideals and practical indications. I think that having these both is one of the beautiful characteristics of Okido Yoga. 

9 thoughts on “To Create a Peaceful World, Each Person must be in a Peaceful Condition

  1. I just read this blog and it is touching.
    Also, because I have been studying iRest Yoga Nidra for a few years now, and an important principle to deal with emotions is, to look for the opposite emotion.
    Exactly what Oki is also saying here. I have the book ‘Last Lectures’, I wil look for the whole article.
    It feels very ‘whole’ for me that my main two studies (Okido Yoga teacher training in 2000-2004 & iRest certification 2016-2019) now come together.
    Everything is one anyway, also the different ‘styles’ of yoga. They all drink from the same source of coarse.

    I hope you are well.

    Warm greetings,
    Diana, the Netherlands.

    • Thank you so much for your comment. As each individual differs, I too have my preferences of what to study more besides Oki-sensei’s philosophy. And these help me to make a unique package of ‘me’. Two aspects ‘common and individual’ – we are blessed with!

  2. Thank you Tomoko Mori. In my life, opposite training is invaluable to iron out imbalance and return me to a stable, loving mind. 50% consideration to another’s joy while I value my own joyous nature is also helpful. Simple clear instruction on these ideas is very helpful.

    • Yes, Oki-sensei described very lofty ideals with very simple practical expression, which appeals to the modern casual life we live and encourages us to be ‘a good person’. Really there is no need to deny our spontaneous reactions, but we can also expand our perspectives as if everybody was’me’.

  3. That is really interesting, You are an overly skilled
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    • Thank you very much for your comment. This blog is progressing at a slow pace because I have to put practice and philosophy together, applying in the daily life. Also, I want seriousness and fun to exist together in one event. Good luck to you!

  4. Hello Tomoko,
    Expressing my heart felt thanks in gratitude for your work in compiling Oki Sensei’s work on this page in English. There have been many moments of complete resonance wash over me. Feeling very aligned with these teachings and way of life.
    This year I competed my first Okido training with Peter Masters here in Australia. Life changing to say the least! Really enjoying being able to delve deeper into the philosophy…
    What I love most about this practice is it’s simplicity and focus on the heart/mind. May we all find our way back to peace and harmony for the whole.
    Blessings,
    Lucille Potts
    Australia

    • Dear Lucille,
      Thank you for your comment. Simply saying, Oki-sensei teaching is ‘Each person, please become a good person. And share, love, and cooperate with each other’. Same as other great teachings. He used the yoga method to show a concrete guidance for this purpose. Oki-sensei’s philosophy might sound too lofty and overwhelming sometimes especially when we think we cannot be a very ideal person. However, Oki-sensei did not say what we should exactly do while facing each problem. Instead, his message is ‘Research the case. Know yourself, your present capacity, your individuality. Take care of your conditions, improve them and your capacities at your pace. Try step by step what you can do, without forcing or wasting energy, but continuing.’ His teaching is not conceptual philosophy. It becomes meaningful and encouraging only when adopted in our daily life attitudes.

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